Net carrier

ABSTRACT

According to an embodiment, a net carrier comprises a flat main body formed of a flexible material, including a plurality of slits formed offset from each other along a radial direction of the main body, and transforming into a bag shape as the plurality of slits are wide open when an external force is applied to the main body, a pair of handle straps projecting from two opposite edges of the main body in opposite radial directions of the main body, and a pair of main neck straps crossing and supporting a neck of a container when the main body folds up to receive the container.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 to Korean Utility Model Application No. 20-2019-0000512, filed on Feb. 1, 2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a net carrier, a mesh carrier, or a carrier net for wrapping or receiving a container, e.g., a wine bottle, and more specifically, to a net carrier transformable from a flat to bag shape.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Recently, more and more people enjoy wine and some embark on a wine tasting trip. After sampling many varieties of wine, they want to buy several bottles to take back home with you. Simply stashing them in your luggage isn't safe, as they could easily break and leak all over your clothes and toiletries. Thus, a wine bottle carrier may be needed. There are conventionally various assortment of wine bottle carriers in the market to safely tote wine around.

Conventionally, wrapping paper or cardboards have been typically used for carrying wine bottles. However, such paper wine carriers are usually opaque and wrap and cover all around the bottle, with the results of difficulty in identifying the kind of the wine and poor aesthetics.

Also introduced are net wine carriers which are flat in the default position but are transformable into a bag shape when in use. However, conventional net wine carriers, once the user places them on the floor and takes her hand off, easily collapse and lose their bag shape, requiring them to be reshaped into a bag for carrying again. This is bothering and inconvenient.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment, a net carrier comprises a flat main body formed of a flexible material, including a plurality of slits formed offset from each other along a radial direction of the main body, and transforming into a bag shape as the plurality of slits are wide open when an external force is applied to the main body, a pair of handle straps projecting from two opposite edges of the main body in opposite radial directions of the main body, and a pair of main neck straps crossing and supporting a neck of a container when the main body folds up to receive the container.

The main neck straps may be formed to cross spaces between the edges of the main body and the handle straps.

The net carrier may further comprise at least one pair of assistant neck straps formed substantially in parallel with the main neck straps between the main neck straps and the edges of the main body to cross and support the neck of the container.

A width D1 of a connecting portion between two adjacent slits arranged along an inner circumferential direction may be larger than a width D2 of a connecting portions between two adjacent slits arranged along a midway circumferential direction, and a width D3 of a connecting portion between two adjacent slits arranged along an outer circumferential direction may be larger than the width D2.

A width W1 of an outermost strip formed by slits arranged along an outermost circumferential direction may be larger than a width W2 of an inner strip adjacent to the outermost strip.

Circular holes may be formed at both ends of each of at least one or more of the slits.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the present disclosure and many of the attendant aspects thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a net carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are views illustrating examples of use of a net carrier as illustrated in FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a net carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an example of use of a net carrier as illustrated in FIG. 4, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference denotations may be used to refer to the same or substantially the same elements throughout the specification and the drawings. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The disclosure, however, may be modified in various different ways, and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a net carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2 and 3 are views illustrating examples of use of a net carrier as illustrated in FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, according to an embodiment, a net carrier includes a main body, a pair of handle straps 20, and a pair of main neck straps 30. The main body 10 may stay flat or transform into a net (or mesh) bag shape to receive a bottle (e.g., a wine bottle). The pair of handle straps 20 may project from two opposite edges of the main body 10 in opposite radial directions. The pair of main neck straps 30 cross and support the user's neck when the main body 10 folds up to wrap and receive the bottle.

The main body 10 is formed of a flexible or pliable material which may transform when applied an external force. The main body 10 has a plurality of elongated slits 11 alternately formed along circumferential directions. When an external force is applied to the main body 10 which used to be in a flat position, e.g., when the user holds up both the handle straps 20, the slits 11 are wide open while transforming the main body 10 into a net bag, thereby wrapping and receiving the wine bottle B. The main body 10 may be formed of silicone, silicone rubber, rubber, or other flexible resin materials. The main body 10 may also be formed of laminated paper, regular paper, felt, non-woven or woven fabric, fiber board, or other various materials.

When unfolded on a table or floor, the main body 10 may be in a circular flat shape. As both the handle straps 20 are lifted up, with a product, e.g., the wine bottle B positioned on the center portion of the main body 10, the main body 10 is shrunken into a net bag shape. In the instant embodiment, although the main body 10 is in a circular flat shape when spread out, the shape of the main body 10 is not limited thereto. For example, in the unfolding position, the main body 10 may be shaped as a rectangle, hexagon, or ellipse, or may be formed in other various flat shapes. As the main body 10 stays flat on a table or floor, the net carrier may be utilized as, e.g., a tableware pad or a food container support or stand, when there is no need for wrapping and carrying the wine bottle B.

A circular supporting portion 13 is formed in the center of the main body 10, and the wine bottle B is seated on the circular supporting portion 13.

The plurality of slits 11 formed in the main body 10 are shaped as arcs elongated along the circumferential directions of the main body 10. A plurality of groups of slits 11 may be formed from the center of the main body 10 outwards in the radial direction of the main body 10. Each group of slits 11 includes a plurality of slits 11 which are away from the center of the main body 10 at the same distance and are spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals. Each slit group is spaced apart from its adjacent or neighboring slit group at a predetermined interval in the radial direction of the main body 10. The slits 11 of each slit group may be arranged offset from the slits 11 of the adjacent or neighboring slit group. The number of the slits 11 in each slit group remains the same, e.g., 6 slits 11 in each slit group. The slits 11 in any one slit group are concentrically arranged to be angled at the same phase difference (e.g., 60 degrees) from the slits 11 in the adjacent or neighboring slit group. For example, the innermost slit group has six slits 11 arranged along the circumferential direction thereof at 60-degree intervals, and its outer slit group also has six slits 11 arranged along the circumferential direction thereof at 60-degree intervals and 60 degrees offset from the slits 11 of the innermost slit group. Such arrangement of the slits 11 allows the net carrier more solidity.

To give more secure support to the center portion of the main body 10, e.g., the supporting portion 13, on which the weight of the wine bottle B concentrates, the width of inter-slit connecting portions 12 is the largest in the inner slit groups in the radial direction of the main body 10, is smallest in the midway slit groups in the radial direction of the main body 10, and increases in the outer inner slit groups in the radial direction of the main body 10.

For example, the width D1 of the connecting portion 12 between two neighboring slits 11 of an inner slit group in the radial direction of the main body 10 is larger than the width D2 of the connecting portion 12 between two neighboring slits 11 of a midway slit group 11 in the radial direction of the main body 10, and the width D3 of the connecting portion 12 between two neighboring slits 11 of an outer slit group in the radial direction of the main body 10 is larger than the width D2 of the connecting portion 12 between two neighboring slits 11 of the midway slit group 11 in the radial direction of the main body 10. Preferably, the widths D1, D2, and D3 of the connecting portions meet the following equation: D1>D3>D2.

To further increase solidity, the width W1 of the outermost strip which is formed by the slits 11 of the outermost slit group of the main body 10 is preferably larger than the width W2 of its adjacent inner strip which is formed by the slits 11 of the adjacent inner strip group.

Each handle strap 20 may be shaped substantially as the letter “U” for the user to hold up or carry, and both ends thereof is integrally connected with an edge of the main body 10.

The main neck straps 30 are formed to cross the spaces between the edges of the main body 10 and the handle straps 20 and, when the main body 10 folds up to receive the wine bottle B, wrap and support the wine bottle B while crossing the neck of the wine bottle B. Thus, when the user carrying the wine bottle B in the net carrier puts it on the floor, the main body 10 remains in the position of receiving the wine bottle B without unfolding. To pull out the wine bottle B, the user may simply release the main neck straps 30 from the neck of the wine bottle B.

The net carrier may further include assistant neck straps 40 between the main neck straps 30 and the edges of the main body 10 to support the neck of the wine bottle B which is small in size. The assistant neck straps 40 may be formed in parallel with the main neck straps 30 by forming assistant slits 41 in the edges of the main body 10, where the handle straps 20 are connected.

The so configured net carrier may be operated as follows.

If the use places a thing to be carried, e.g., the wine bottle B, on the supporting portion 13 in the center of the main body 10, with the main body 10 positioned flat as shown in FIG. 1 and holds up both the handle straps 20, then the slits 11 in the main body 10 are wide open, allowing the main body 10 to transform into a network bag shape as shown in FIG. 2.

The user pulls one main neck strap 30 over the top of the wine bottle B and hangs it on the opposite neck portion with her hand and does the same on the other main neck strap 30. By so doing, the two main neck straps 30 are crossingly hung over the neck of the wine bottle B, thereby supporting the main body 10 against the wine bottle B.

Thus, the main body 10 may remain in the folding position even without the user holding the handle straps 20.

If the wine bottle B is small in size, the assistant neck straps 40, on behalf of the main neck straps 30, may be used to hang and support the main body 10 over the wine bottle B.

As such, according to the present invention, the user may transform the net carrier into a bag to receive the wine bottle B by holding up the main body 10 with the wine bottle B positioned inside. In this case, the main neck straps 30 or assistant neck straps 40 may be hung over the neck of the wine bottle B while crossing each other, thus allowing the main body 10 to remain in the position without unfolding

even when the user places it on a table or floor and take her hand off the net carrier. This relieves the user of the hassle of wrapping up again to carry the wine bottle B.

Although not shown in the drawings, anti-slip pads or protrusions formed of rubber or unwoven fabric may be formed on the bottom of the main neck straps 30 or assistant neck straps 40 to prevent a slip on the neck of the wine bottle B and thus give more stability.

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a net carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an example of use of a net carrier as illustrated in FIG. 4, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the net carrier may further include another pair of assistant neck straps 50 (hereinafter, referred to as “second assistant neck straps”) between the main neck straps 30 and the assistant neck straps 40 to cross each other over the neck of the bottle and support the bottle.

Like the main neck straps 30, the second assistant neck straps 50 may cross and support the neck of the bottle or, otherwise, the second assistant neck straps 50 may support the neck of the wine bottle B without crossing over the bottle neck, thereby presenting more support and durability.

In the net carrier, circular holes 14 may be formed at both ends of some slits 11 to distribute the weight of the bottle.

According to embodiments of the disclosure, the net carrier remains flat when not in use and may transform into a bag shape when in use to carry a bottle. In the flat position, the net carrier may be used as a supporting pad for a container, as does a tableware pad and, in the bag-shaped position, the net carrier may wrap and receive a bottle to carry. The neck straps of the net carrier may cross and support the neck of the bottle so that the net carrier remains in the bag shape even when the user puts it on the floor and takes her hand off. This eliminates the hassle of the user's need for reshaping a bag for carrying. Further, the net carrier provides safe and secure packing of a wine bottle without clanking.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A net carrier, comprising: a flat main body formed of a flexible material, including a plurality of slits formed offset from each other along a radial direction of the main body, and transforming into a bag shape as the plurality of slits are wide open when an external force is applied to the main body; a pair of handle straps projecting from two opposite edges of the main body in opposite radial directions of the main body; and a pair of main neck straps crossing and supporting a neck of a container when the main body folds up to receive the container.
 2. The net carrier of claim 1, wherein the main neck straps are formed to cross spaces between the edges of the main body and the handle straps.
 3. The net carrier of claim 2, further comprising at least one pair of assistant neck straps formed substantially in parallel with the main neck straps between the main neck straps and the edges of the main body to cross and support the neck of the container.
 4. The net carrier of claim 1, wherein a width D1 of a connecting portion between two adjacent slits arranged along an inner circumferential direction is larger than a width D2 of a connecting portions between two adjacent slits arranged along a midway circumferential direction, and a width D3 of a connecting portion between two adjacent slits arranged along an outer circumferential direction is larger than the width D2.
 5. The net carrier of claim 1, wherein a width W1 of an outermost strip formed by slits arranged along an outermost circumferential direction is larger than a width W2 of an inner strip adjacent to the outermost strip.
 6. The net carrier of claim 1, wherein circular holes are formed at both ends of each of at least one or more of the slits. 